CLOSET MONSTER

Are you free on March 19 and up to closing out your weekend with a lateish Sunday afternoon screening of a sultry Canadian coming-of-age story? Of course, you are. Remember, we’re psychic — and let’s face it— nobody turns down the offer to munch on popcorn, plan for a late-night cocktail and watch drop dead gorgeous actors bare their souls in a hit drama.

Do we have your attention? Excellent! Now on to the formalities…

“Closet Monster,” the fantastical 2015 submission by director Stephen Dunn, makes its Philadelphia premiere at qFLIX Philadelphia 2017, the twenty-third installment of the city’s and region’s most cherished LGBTQ film festival, and will be open to the public for the final afternoon of the festival, that runs from March 14 – 19, 2017.

We invite you to join us in this spectacular event at the historic Prince Theater (1412 Chestnut Street) as we celebrate beauty in diversity and art 3:30 PM for the screening.

Oh, did we mention that there is an impossibly cute hamster that has a pretty big part in the film? Her name’s Buffy, but she’s no vampire slayer. Double oh, did we mention that said impossibly cute hamster is voiced by the legendary actress Isabella Rossellini in a stunningly whimsical performance?

“Closet Monster,” the riveting bildungsroman starring Aaron Abrams (“Hannibal”), Connor Jessup (“American Crime”) and Joanne Kelly (“Bay of Love and Sorrows”), follows Oscar Madley (Jessup), a gay teen on the verge of manhood struggling to understand who he is while he fights feverishly to balance functioning relationships with his divorced (not to mention emotionally inept) parents, plan a move to New York City with his best friend Gemma Sofia Banzhaf (“Bitten”) and try to figure out the story with the hot, buffed guy he works with, Aliocha Schneider (“Mommy is at the Hairdresser’s”) at a local hardware store that looks shockingly like the Home Depot you might find if you journey onto Columbus Ave. Hmm, might not be a bad place to pick up a date for the festival, yes?

It’s sexy. It’s funny. It’s a tear-jerker. It’s a meditation on the family circle. “Closet Monster” has it all, and is just one of dozens of critically acclaimed films that will have a presence at qFLIX 2017— starting with the internationally renowned Northeast Premiere of “Handsome Devil,” an Irish entry, directed by John Butler, which opens on Tuesday, March 14 at the Perelman Theater at the Kimmel Center (300 S. Broad Street) at exactly 7:30 PM and closes at the Prince Theater with the North American Premiere with “Something Like Summer,” an USA entry, and directorial debut of John Berry, at 7:30 PM on March 19, immediately following the audience, jury and special awards.

That being said, it is our privilege to see you for this rendition of qFLIX. More than that, it’s also an honor. Being part of the qFLIX crew is a lifestyle in itself. So with that in mind, please join us as we celebrate with an entire congregation in the City of Brotherly Love and Sisterly Affection. It’s your destiny. It’s our pleasure. It’s going to be an amazing festival!